Plumber's car explodes in Vancouver's West End (with video)

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VANCOUVER - West End resident Lauren McLaren was startled awake early Wednesday morning by a massive explosion that shattered windows in her first-floor apartment.

The shocked woman ran outside where people on the street were screaming after a parked car exploded in the 800-block of Nicola Street and erupted in flames, scattering debris for a block and causing damage to surrounding apartment buildings.

The car's hood was metres away in a tree, the lower windows in at least four apartment buildings were smashed and the street was littered with the contents of the wrecked car.

The explosion was caused by a leaking acetylene gas tank stored in a Toyota Matrix by a plumber — identified in several reports as Michel Hachey — whom police said was unbelievably fortunate to have survived the blast.

When the loud bang rocked her apartment and she heard the glass shatter, McLaren leaped out of bed to see what happened. Four windows in her condo were blown out and she said if it hadn't been for the blinds in her bedroom, glass could have hit her bed while she was sleeping.

"I didn't think it was real," she said. "The car was flaming ... people were screaming in the street."

The air was filled with the stench of burning rubber and plastic, she said.

McLaren, who was alone at the time, said she then went outside and saw two people with glass in their faces and cut hands.

Ambulances arrived and took the two men to hospital. She said they had been in a car travelling south on Nicola Street and had just passed the parked car when it exploded.

Their car sat parked in the middle of the road Wednesday morning, its back window blown out, as firefighters and police officers cordoned off the area and investigated. Police believe it was that passing vehicle that shielded the plumber from the blast and possibly saved his life.

Capt. Gabe Roder, a spokesman for Vancouver Fire and Rescue Services, said the plumber used a key fob from across the street to open the car shortly before 7 a.m. The electronic key is believed to have caused a small spark which ignited the gas, either from a leaky or open tank.

Roder said the plumber was not injured, however the young man has been taken to St. Paul's Hospital to be treated for shock.

No residents were harmed, said Roder, but two men who were in the car driving past the explosion are being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

"Vancouver fire would like to remind all citizens that it is dangerous to both store and to transport any type of gas, be it gasoline, propane or acetylene in the passenger compartment of a vehicle," said Roder.

He urged people who must transport gases to ensure they are stored in a well-ventilated area, secured to the vehicle, and away from any source of heat.

Acetylene is used to solder copper pipes and fittings, and is commonly used every day by plumbers, said John Hodgson, one of the owners of Hodgson Plumbing and Mechanical Ltd. He said although acetylene is highly flammable, he always makes sure the valve is turned off properly so no gas escapes. He also transports it in a commercial vehicle and never in his own personal car.

He didn't want to speculate on whether the plumber forgot to close the valve, but said workers do need to be extra careful these days with so many electronics in vehicles.

Brent Alward, owner if IN UR TOWN Plumbing and Heating, said incidents of vehicles blowing up are extremely rare and that had Hachey used a regular key to open the door he would have smelled the leaked gas. He said he knew of no rules about transporting the cylinders.

"It's not much different that carrying a barbecue tank in your car," he said. "It's very critical to take precautions."

Vancouver police spokesman Const. Brian Montague said he doesn't anticipate any charges against the plumber. He said right now he is in shock and being treated at hospital.

"He has come close to being seriously injured or killed. He has no cuts but he'll be taken to hospital and checked for internal injuries," said Montague.

Salman Kabir, who is visiting his parents in the adjacent apartment building, was in disbelief. He said at first he thought the explosion was an earthquake because it shook the building. Then he looked out the window and saw flames.

"It was earth-shattering," he said. "Then there was just two minutes of just shock. It shook everything. "

The blast was so strong residents across the West End felt the jolt, with some witnesses who live blocks away reporting that they could feel a rumble in their feet.

"It was so loud it woke me up," said Mark Haggerty, who lives two blocks away from the explosion. "Everybody in the West End were out on balconies or on the street. It woke up the whole neighbourhood."

Quinn Mulligan, an engineer who lives 10 blocks south of the accident site, said the blast sounded like it was right outside his apartment and his windows shook.

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